The truth is that it didn’t take very long at all to feel right at home on this bike. Building up the size large frame, getting the stock stem in the correct position and finally cutting down the steerer tube revealed a bike that felt very stable and composed, happily climbing and descending all manner of roads. The stock bars at 440mm are also my go-to size, so no changes needed there.

The bike is sensibly adorned with a mostly Shimano Ultegra groupset. The finishing kit and wheels are all perfectly functional, but not exciting, Giant branded components. At the end of a summer of lots of riding the wheels are needing a little attention, as to be expected.

The frame itself is lovely, which is exactly what you want. I’m not usually a fan of proprietary standards, but the teardrop profile carbon seatpost on this bike is an exception; apart from looking smart, it means your saddle will always be perfectly in line! Further, the frame is Di-2 compatible, if that’s your thing, and comes with front and rear through-axles with nice tapered skewers. This non-“Pro” model means the fork’s steerer tube is aluminium, but my unrefined lack of perception here means this is no problem for me and meant I was happier to cut it myself too.

Coming from a mountain biking background, I am all in favour of hydraulic disc brakes on road bikes; I have been waiting for them to come to road bikes for some time. They offer a level of performance and consistency unmatched by any other system.

The Trans Alpine 30 is Deuter’s ‘favourite all-rounder’. I have been putting this to the test for the last season.

My incumbent go-to bag for mountain bike riding and guiding has been the Evoc FR Trail, which is 20 litres of low profile, extremely well thought out and well made bag. The Trans Alpine 30 is in a different category as far as capacity goes and to pitch the TA30 against the Evoc for general single day riding would be unfair. However, for guiding purposes, I have happily used either.

Guiding

For me, this would be the main purpose of the bag.

The TA30 came in to my hands just in time for guiding Saddle Skedaddle‘s Awesome Ambleside mountain biking weekend. It settled in to this role well, comfortably swallowing all my guiding kit including spare layers and a small group shelter with room to spare. The extra space of the 30 litre bag was well appreciated, yet it still manages to maintain a fairly low profile.

Something I especially like about the TA30 is the main compartment has a (zippered removable) divider towards the bottom, with the lower section being accessible from below. This feature is simple but so very handy in practice; I use this section to store my first aid kit, making it very easy to get at and keeps it separate from everything else in the bag.

I also really appreciate the presence of waist strap pockets, which I use to store a few tools in one side and snacks in the other.

What I found strange was the unusual omission of a whistle integrated in to the sternum strap buckle. Interestingly, this is a feature on other Deuter bags such as the smaller Attack 20, making its omission even more baffling. A small whistle slipped into one of the waist strap pockets alleviates this.

However, possibly most importantly, this bag is stable and comfortable when riding. By distributing weight well, the TA30 is well up to the task of carrying a full mountain bike guiding load all day. The weight is held well through tight corners and there is no ‘swinging’.

General Travel

Part of the ‘all-rounder’ quality that Deuter attaches to the TA30 suggests to me it should be at ease with general travel duties. With the amount of road riding trips I guide, the TA30 was destined to spend quite a lot of time in such a capacity.

It’s also seen use lugging some sport climbing gear around between work assignments.

The H x W x D of 54 x 28 x 24 cm means the Trans Alpine 30 should be hand luggage ready. To test this, I took a four night trip to Reykjavik, with this as my only bag. Here it is stowed safely under the seat in front of me:

Comfortably taking a couple of changes of clothes and a few other travel essentials, the TA30 passes this test. It performed well as a day to day bag both around town and on hikes to hot springs, with ample room for food and clothing. Those side pockets came in extra handy for bottles of water, too. None of my other bags have them, and in most other situations I wouldn’t care much for them, but they really complement the all-rounder ethic of this bag. The waist strap pockets were also a very useful place to store hotel keys.

The verdict so far

I have been using the TA30 for a few months now; with useful features and a good size it has quickly become a familiar travel companion and comfortable, capable riding sack. I’ll happily keep testing it out!

After guiding a lot of road trips, I always love getting back on my mountain bike, riding and guiding quality trails. This summer I’ve had the pleasure of riding one of my favourites in the Lake District with good friends: the three passes starting from Staveley.

This was followed by an impromptu trip up to Scotland to cover the last few days of Saddle Skedaddle‘s Celtic Crossing trip. This is an epic journey in the traditional cross country mould which starts on the north coast of Scotland in Bettyhill and concludes at the Wallace monument in Stirling. The day I started we were to cross the Corrieyairack Pass.

The highlight day of this trip has to be the penultimate leg from Dalwhinnie to Killin, crossing some beautifully remote terrain.

I also found myself back in the north Lakes, guiding some great rides near Ullswater. The forecast was for heavy rain all weekend but the usual Lake District sunshine prevailed for the most part.